What Would You Do With An Old Car That’s Never Really Been Driven?

The opposite of a used up car isn’t a new car, it’s one that’s never been used. A car’s life is usually pretty straightforward, from the dealer lot to commuting or family car life, passing through a handful of owners til it’s either in good enough shape to become a classic, in bad enough shape to get scrapped, or in any kind of shape to become a hobby.

For various reasons, there are glitches in cars’ timelines and some of them fall from the loop completely, never to be titled or even bought in the first place. While some people mothball new cars (think Buick GNX or something else perceived as a future rarity), there are dealerships and garages that end up shuttered, still retaining cars that do not get driven on the road ever.

A couple years ago, Mercedes wrote up the story of a 117-mile, 2002 Ford Focus that was part of unsold new-old-stock from a Ford dealer that ceased operating. This week, Saabplanet reported that two Saab 9000 Turbos were found inside a dusty garage in Italy. The two cars were discovered and rescued by marque specialists Zanetti Omero after they received a tip from members of the Italian SaabWay Club.

The Saabs are a 1987 9000 CC Turbo and a 1988 9000 CD Turbo, that were seemingly stored with just a handful of miles on the clock. The 1987 pre-facelift, five-door white car has 242 kilometers and the blue sedan just 61 km, which is less than 38 miles. Neither the Saabplanet article or the Facebook posts really expand on how they were left behind and never registered, but save for some mildew on the seatbelts and the lost headlights on the white car, they appear to be in as-new condition – once the storage dust is washed off.

Most 9000s of this age have had their front wings turn crusty and their leather seats become beef jerky, but it’s always interesting to see something like these two cars pop from the folds of time and space. These were great cars when new, and they marked a special time in Saab’s history, offering a lot of turbo power and cabin space with a bunch of quirky details thrown in the mix.

Over a decade ago, I got to see something similar. A vocational school near me had gotten a new Fiat Croma way back in 1989 for a training car, presumably for diagnosing vehicle electrics and electronics. This isn’t a jab at Fiat’s build quality, even if Cromas did suffer from myriad electric problems and their dashboard displays did look a bit like a bit of Christmas tree cosplay.

The Croma was a platform sibling to the Saab 9000, too, as it was part of the Type Four pack of cars that were unveiled in the mid-‘80s. The other two cars were the Lancia Thema and the Alfa 164, and it’s likely the Saabs have survived in biggest numbers. The Fiat was the cheapest of the four, even if Saab pricing was usually adjusted very carefully in Finland so that they would always appear favorable when the state was looking for fleet vehicles.

The school Croma was never registered on the road as it was sold tax-free for educational use with its VIN scraped off. Over time, the Croma accumulated less than 1500km on a dyno before the school finally auctioned it in 2021. Someone got it for less than three grand.

As it had been inside a school garage for over 30 years, it had gotten some cosmetic damage here and there, and the ad mentioned the wiring likely being worn in places due to students practicing on it. I saw it in person in 2013, and it was moderately dog-eared then.

Finally, for those looking for a Lotus Elan of their own after reading yesterday’s post on the Kia Elan that’s currently on BAT, there’s a never-driven 1992 Elan M100 Turbo for sale in Belgium. It has all of 607km on the clock (that’s 377 miles), and looks like it’s been a static display object all its life. Even the Michelin MXX2 tires look 1992, and they were OEM tires for the Lotus.

It’s spotless and seemingly faultless inside out, top to bottom, and the Car and Classic ad even includes video of it running. It’s the Turbo version with the full 167 horsepower, and British Racing Green is an interesting color choice for a rounded ’90s roadster.

The Lotus is for sale in Belgium, for a perfectly reasonable 29,000 Euros or $34k; that’s £25,000, which in 1992 pounds Sterling would be just £11k. Keep in mind the Elan cost twenty thousand pounds new, and the 2026 price isn’t unrealistic at all.

The Focus, the Saabs, the Lotus Elan, and the Fiat Croma all have a question mark hanging on them. What do you do with them or any car in similar old-but-new condition, if you end up buying it? The Focus was for sale for a whole $20,000 in 2024, and while that’s a lot for a 2002 Focus, especially one you’d need to refresh a bit, you could feasibly still use it for its intended purpose as a commuter car.

The Saabs and the Lotus are different, as they seem destined to go into enthusiast hands with little enough use to keep the miles low, but they’re still enjoyable on sunny Sundays. The Croma? It would need to be a museum piece since it was made unregistrable from the get-go, and using a structurally relatively well-preserved car for parts would be a waste.

What would you do?